Hotel Indigo developer cleared of fraud

Sep. 18, 2013

Written by

Amie Lara

The Tennessean

A federal jury deliberated for two hours Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Nashville before finding a Hotel Indigo developer not guilty on 12 counts of bank and wire fraud.

“Thank you, jury,”David Mark Lineberry said with tears in his eyes moments after the verdict was announced.

Lineberry, 43, had been on trial for a week in U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp’s court on charges that he misrepresented financial information in his dealings with banks and title companies, which said they had been defrauded out of $18 million in his Hotel Indigo project inNashville.

Co-defendant Delaina Thompson, 42, who served as Lineberry’s vice president, office manager and 39 percent owner of his company, pleaded guilty Sept. 6 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud with Lineberry.

She faces up to 30 years in prison for her crime. However, in her plea agreement, she said that her lawyer estimated a likely sentence of 63 to 78 months in prison. Sentencing for Thompson, who testified against Lineberry, is scheduled for Dec. 6.

“Mr. Lineberry and his attorneys appreciate the conscientious manner in which the jury reached the verdict,” Nashville attorney David Raybin said.

Raybin, who represented Lineberry along with Peter Strianse, added, “We think the jury followed the judges’ instructions. This was a tough case given the fact that we were dealing with a big bank.”

That bank was Branch Banking and Trust Co. (BB&T).

Assistant U.S. attorneys Byron Jones and John Webb, who prosecuted the case, declined to comment after the verdict was announced.